Bear Creek Rural Carrier Sandra Spivey

BEAR CREEK, NC — An elderly postal customer on Lewis Moody Road in Bear Creek was watering the flowers at her home one day recently when she slipped to the ground and couldn’t get back up. She was able to crawl and made it to her car in her driveway, where she opened the door and started to blow the horn, in hopes that a neighbor would hear it and come to her aid.

No one heard it.

Two hours later, Rural Carrier Sandra Spivey drove up to the customer’s mailbox when she heard a cry for help. She walked over towards the cry and saw the customer lying on the ground, unable to move much. “I helped her up and walked her inside the house where she could sit down,” recalled Spivey. “I got her some water and asked if she was OK, and if there was anyone I could call for her. She said no and asked if I could just sit with her.”

So Spivey sat and talked with her for 20 minutes, getting assurances from her customer that she had no broken bones or injuries. She lay her on the couch and brought the house phone near her before leaving to continue her route, and the lady told her how much she appreciated her staying with her.

Spivey, a resident of Bennett, stopped to check on her two days later and saw her family got her a Life Alert device to put around her neck, in case she gets in trouble again. “It made me feel good to be there for her, because I love all my customers,” said Spivey. “Anything could have happened, so I’m glad I was there.”

“I’m glad she was there too,” said Sarah Zimmerman, Bear Creek Postmaster. “Sandra epitomizes what we expect of our carriers, as the eyes and ears of our community. She does a wonderful job every day.”

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

Follow us on twitter.com/USPS and like us at facebook.com/USPS. For more information about the Postal Service, go to usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.